I joined Exeter Business School in 2010. Previous academic positions have been held at the universities of Dundee, Colorado (USA), and Manchester.

Broadly, my research interest is in understanding and theorising both continuity and change in organisations. My work is qualitative, and usually takes the form of theoretically-informed case studies. I frequently draw on institutional theory or structuration theory to inform my interpretations.

Past publications have appeared in journals such as Accounting, Organizations and Society, Organization Studies, Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Management Accounting Research, and European Accounting Review.

I am currently also a Visiting Professor at University College Dublin (Ireland) and Trondheim Business School (Norway).

Research clusters

Research interests

Broadly, my research interest is in understanding and theorising both continuity and change in organisations. My work is qualitative, and usually takes the form of theoretically-informed case studies. I frequently draw on institutional theory or structuration theory to inform my interpretations.

Current themes I am working on include: performance management and management control in the public sector (e.g., hospitals, higher education and schools); and accounting for product development in the automobile industry.

Abstract:A structuration theory perspective on the interplay between strategy and accounting: unpacking social continuity and transformation

Anthony Giddens is generally considered one of the most prominent sociologists of modern time. In this paper, we draw upon a micro-process case study to explore how his theory of structuration (ST) can be used to analyze the interplay between strategy and accounting in day-to-day-organizational life. In short, we find that strategizing and accounting should not be viewed as two separate practices, but rather as two aspects of one and the same practice, which form and feed each other in a recursive manner over time. Based on these findings, we also elaborate on how ST may be usefully applied to understand continuity and transformation of strategizing practices more generally. An overall conclusion is that ST not only provides a strong and consistent ontological framework for theorizing about these practices, but also offers a rich conceptual toolbox which can be usefully applied to better understand how and why structural continuity and change may coexist and intermingle in the durée of daily organizational life.

Abstract:The paradox of strategic management accounting

The evidence that strategic management accounting (SMA) techniques have not been adopted widely and that developments in the SMA literature seem to have languished may be consistent with the relatively short lifecycle of most strategic management (SM) tools and many concepts. Nevertheless, there is an inherent contradiction between the apparent decline of SMA and the sustained growth in the number of concepts, models, tools, theoretical perspectives, disciplines, academic and professional journals and consultancy practices that populate the SM domain.

This paradox of SMA is explored in the context of the evolution of the SM literature, SMA practice, as exemplified by two recent case studies, and the cognate literatures of management control, performance measurement and knowledge management. It transpires that the SMA literature is based in large part on a narrow, first-era, view of the SM literature that reached maturity with Michael Porter's industry analysis model and generic competitive strategies.

The second era of SM that began in 1977 with a move to a more internal, resource-based view of the firm and competitive advantage has been mostly neglected by the extant SMA literature. However, to judge from the small number of published case studies, SMA practices are developing in line with their strategy formulation and organisational processes. The links among the bundle of techniques that are usually included in SMA and between SMA and cognate literatures need to be integrated into a coherent, cohesive framework to complement SM.

Abstract:25 years of Giddens in accounting research: achievements, limitations and the future.

Twenty five years ago, Giddens’ structuration theory (ST) was introduced into accounting research as a reaction to the history-less, apolitical and technical-efficiency focus of traditional functionalist research. A quarter of a century later, this growing stream of research consists of some 65 published papers and has become one of the dominant alternative approaches used to explore accounting as an organizational and social practice. We review this literature based on the following two research questions; (i) what are the major achievements of this literature, and in what respects has it contributed to our understanding of accounting in relation to other alternative streams of accounting research, such as those grounded in critical theory, actor-network theory (ANT), new-institutional sociology (NIS) and practice theory? and; (ii) what are the limitations of the ST strand and, considering these (and its relative strengths), how should it be advanced in the future? Overall, we find that the mobilization of ST as a general ontological framework has generated three major and largely unique contributions, namely; (i) the introduction of a duality perspective; (ii) the conceptualization of accounting as an interwoven totality comprised of structures of signification, domination and legitimation, and; (iii) an ontological basis for theorizing how, when and why socially embedded agents may produce both continuity and change in accounting practices. However, we also conclude that it is difficult to identify a particular and distinctive empirical imprint of the ST literature, and that some of the theory’s ‘competitive advantages’ are far from fully exploited. Based on these identified strengths and weaknesses of the ST perspective, we consider an array of directions for future scholarly effort.

Abstract:The image of accountants: from bean counters to extreme accountants

Purpose – the aim of this paper is to investigate the extent to which a profound change in the imageof accountants can be seen in the discourse used in accounting software adverts that have appeared inthe professional publications of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants over the last fourdecades.Design/methodology/approach – Methodologically, the paper draws from Barthes’ work on therhetoric of images and Giddens’ work on modernity. By looking at accounting software adverts, anattempt is made to investigate the image of the accountant produced by the discourse of the adverts,and whether the image produced reflects a wide social change in society.Findings – it was found that in the 1970s and the 1980s the accountant was constructed as aresponsible and rational person. In the 1990s, the accountant was presented as an instructed actionman. However, in a recent advert the accountant appeared as a more hedonistic person. Overall, thechanges observed reflect changes in wider social practice from modernity, through high modernity, tohyper-modernity.Research limitations/implications – the image of the accountants has implications for thedevelopment of the accounting profession. In particular, the move towards hyper-modernity, whereempathy towards others and the virtues of self-discipline and fairness are not at stake, hasimplications for the trustworthiness of the accounting profession.Originality/value – Although there has been some research into the image of accountants,particularly in the media and popular movies, extant works have mostly investigated how othersperceive accountants and how accountants are generally portrayed. The paper however, places morestress on the construction of the image of the accountants when appealing to the accountants.

Abstract:A structuration theory perspective on the interplay between strategy and accounting: unpacking social continuity and transformation

Anthony Giddens is generally considered one of the most prominent sociologists of modern time. In this paper, we draw upon a micro-process case study to explore how his theory of structuration (ST) can be used to analyze the interplay between strategy and accounting in day-to-day-organizational life. In short, we find that strategizing and accounting should not be viewed as two separate practices, but rather as two aspects of one and the same practice, which form and feed each other in a recursive manner over time. Based on these findings, we also elaborate on how ST may be usefully applied to understand continuity and transformation of strategizing practices more generally. An overall conclusion is that ST not only provides a strong and consistent ontological framework for theorizing about these practices, but also offers a rich conceptual toolbox which can be usefully applied to better understand how and why structural continuity and change may coexist and intermingle in the durée of daily organizational life.

Abstract:The paradox of strategic management accounting

The evidence that strategic management accounting (SMA) techniques have not been adopted widely and that developments in the SMA literature seem to have languished may be consistent with the relatively short lifecycle of most strategic management (SM) tools and many concepts. Nevertheless, there is an inherent contradiction between the apparent decline of SMA and the sustained growth in the number of concepts, models, tools, theoretical perspectives, disciplines, academic and professional journals and consultancy practices that populate the SM domain.

This paradox of SMA is explored in the context of the evolution of the SM literature, SMA practice, as exemplified by two recent case studies, and the cognate literatures of management control, performance measurement and knowledge management. It transpires that the SMA literature is based in large part on a narrow, first-era, view of the SM literature that reached maturity with Michael Porter's industry analysis model and generic competitive strategies.

The second era of SM that began in 1977 with a move to a more internal, resource-based view of the firm and competitive advantage has been mostly neglected by the extant SMA literature. However, to judge from the small number of published case studies, SMA practices are developing in line with their strategy formulation and organisational processes. The links among the bundle of techniques that are usually included in SMA and between SMA and cognate literatures need to be integrated into a coherent, cohesive framework to complement SM.

Abstract:25 years of Giddens in accounting research: achievements, limitations and the future.

Twenty five years ago, Giddens’ structuration theory (ST) was introduced into accounting research as a reaction to the history-less, apolitical and technical-efficiency focus of traditional functionalist research. A quarter of a century later, this growing stream of research consists of some 65 published papers and has become one of the dominant alternative approaches used to explore accounting as an organizational and social practice. We review this literature based on the following two research questions; (i) what are the major achievements of this literature, and in what respects has it contributed to our understanding of accounting in relation to other alternative streams of accounting research, such as those grounded in critical theory, actor-network theory (ANT), new-institutional sociology (NIS) and practice theory? and; (ii) what are the limitations of the ST strand and, considering these (and its relative strengths), how should it be advanced in the future? Overall, we find that the mobilization of ST as a general ontological framework has generated three major and largely unique contributions, namely; (i) the introduction of a duality perspective; (ii) the conceptualization of accounting as an interwoven totality comprised of structures of signification, domination and legitimation, and; (iii) an ontological basis for theorizing how, when and why socially embedded agents may produce both continuity and change in accounting practices. However, we also conclude that it is difficult to identify a particular and distinctive empirical imprint of the ST literature, and that some of the theory’s ‘competitive advantages’ are far from fully exploited. Based on these identified strengths and weaknesses of the ST perspective, we consider an array of directions for future scholarly effort.

Abstract:The routinisation of management controls in software.

Our paper aims to explore management control as complex and intertwining process over time, rather than the (mainstream) fixation on rational, optimising tools for ensuring business success. We set out to contribute towards our understanding of why and how particular management controls evolve over time as they do. We discuss how the management control routines of one organisation emerged and reproduced (through software), and moved towards a situation of becoming accepted and generally unquestioned across much of the industry. The creativity and championing of one particular person was found to be especially important in this unfolding change process. Our case study illuminates how management control (software) routines can be an important carrier of organisational knowledge, both as an engine for continuity but also potentially as a catalyst for change. We capture this process by means of exploring the ‘life-story’ of a piece of software that is adopted in the corrugated container industry.

Abstract:Professional Accounting Media - Accountants Handing over Control to the System

Purpose – the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between management accountingsoftware and the management accountant, as (re)produced in adverts appearing in professionalmanagement accounting journals. The paper analyses how such adverts have shaped the managementaccountant and the social practice of management accounting; in particular, whether these adverts areproducing an image of management accountants who are in control of their management accountingsystem or who are controlled by it. The paper also discusses whether these adverts reflect changes inbroader social practices.Design/methodology/approach – the paper analyses two software adverts that were published inChartered Institute of Management Accountants’ professional journal. It uses discourse analysis tounderstand both the image of management accountants and the nature of the management accountingsoftware portrayed in these adverts, as well as to explore the relationship between managementaccountants and their control systems.Findings – it is concluded that the software adverts project an image of managementaccountants who are effectively handing over control to their systems, and who are encouraged toplace substantial trust in the software. The paper relates these changes to trends in contemporarysocial practices, and reflects in the light of recent events in the financial markets and global economymore generally.Originality/value – This paper contributes by adding more insight to the diffusion of the images ofthe accountant as a more action oriented and hedonistic person (while the software system “does thework”), as well as considering the broader implications of such diffusion in the context of the recentfinancial crisis.

Abstract:The image of accountants: from bean counters to extreme accountants

Purpose – the aim of this paper is to investigate the extent to which a profound change in the imageof accountants can be seen in the discourse used in accounting software adverts that have appeared inthe professional publications of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants over the last fourdecades.Design/methodology/approach – Methodologically, the paper draws from Barthes’ work on therhetoric of images and Giddens’ work on modernity. By looking at accounting software adverts, anattempt is made to investigate the image of the accountant produced by the discourse of the adverts,and whether the image produced reflects a wide social change in society.Findings – it was found that in the 1970s and the 1980s the accountant was constructed as aresponsible and rational person. In the 1990s, the accountant was presented as an instructed actionman. However, in a recent advert the accountant appeared as a more hedonistic person. Overall, thechanges observed reflect changes in wider social practice from modernity, through high modernity, tohyper-modernity.Research limitations/implications – the image of the accountants has implications for thedevelopment of the accounting profession. In particular, the move towards hyper-modernity, whereempathy towards others and the virtues of self-discipline and fairness are not at stake, hasimplications for the trustworthiness of the accounting profession.Originality/value – Although there has been some research into the image of accountants,particularly in the media and popular movies, extant works have mostly investigated how othersperceive accountants and how accountants are generally portrayed. The paper however, places morestress on the construction of the image of the accountants when appealing to the accountants.

Abstract:How do embedded agents engage in institutional change?

The article looks at the fact that institutional theories offer more insight into the processes that account for institutional stability than those that would explain institutional change. The authors then focus on institutional change within organizations. They seek to conceptualize and collect empirical evidence for when, why and how people within organizations influence change while they are part of the institutional fabric of their organizations. When formulating theories of institutional change, the relevant dimensions of change, and the time frame of the study must be specified. Also, processes that account for causal relationships among variables, as well as the way in which ideas constraint or facilitate institutional change must be specified.

Abstract:An institutional perspective of accountants: new roles - the interplay of contradictions and praxis

Recent years have witnessed a flurry of commentaries, mainly in the professional accounting literature, on new business-oriented roles for management accountants. Often premised on the generalisation of survey data, such work undoubtedly provides useful publicity to the underlying trends. However, to date, empirical research into the dynamics of role(s) change in actual organisations is scarce. This paper describes the emergence of new team/process-oriented roles for so-called 'hybrid' accountants in the manufacturing division of a multinational pharmaceuticals organisation. Adopting institutional theory, the following provides insight into role(s) change, as processes that encompass both institutional embeddedness and transformational agency. We highlight institutional contradictions that create potential openings for change, and discuss the praxis that underpin when, how and why role(s) change is carved out.

This paper examines a failed change initiative (the implementation of economic value added, EVATM) in an in-depth case study of a major UK retailer (RetailCo, a pseudonym). The paper locates this change initiative within inter-professional competition between on the one hand the finance managers and on the other hand the buyers and merchandisers in RetailCo. Finance managers sought to strengthen their professional jurisdiction and enhance their financial and symbolic rewards by imposing stricter controls over buyers and merchandisers, which the latter resented as an undesirable intervention into their work practices and mobilized their influence and work knowledge to ensure the abandonment of EVA. This boundary work involved the use of a multiplicity of entry points centred on control strategies and the fundamentals of retailing. Implications for professional competition and organizational change are considered.

Starting from the position that management accounting systems and practices constitute organizational rules and routines, this paper describes an institutional framework for the conceptualization of management accounting change. Drawing from (old) institutional economics, the framework explores the complex and ongoing relationship between actions and institutions, and demonstrates the importance of organizational routines and institutions in shaping the processes of management accounting change. The inherent stability and continuity of organizational life is discussed, and three categorizations of institutional change are explored. The framework is offered as a starting point for researchers interested in studying management accounting change, and through such studies the framework will be extended and refined.

Abstract:The Dynamics of Accounting Change: Inter-play of New Practices, Routines, Institutions, Power and Politics

This paper explores accounting change in the product development department of a small UK chemicals manufacturer. An institutional framework of accounting and a framework of power mobilisation help tease out the dynamics of the processes of change. The case highlights power over resources, decision making and meanings as being key facilitators to the implementation of accounting change. It also demonstrates barriers to change and conflict which emerge as new accounting routines fail to impinge on existing laboratory ways of thinking. Focusing on the processes of accounting change within a specific organisational setting illuminates aspects of the change process which more conventional “static” approaches would likely ignore.

Abstract:A structuration theory perspective on the interplay between strategy and accounting: unpacking social continuity and transformation

Anthony Giddens is generally considered one of the most prominent sociologists of modern time. In this paper, we draw upon a micro-process case study to explore how his theory of structuration (ST) can be used to analyze the interplay between strategy and accounting in day-to-day-organizational life. In short, we find that strategizing and accounting should not be viewed as two separate practices, but rather as two aspects of one and the same practice, which form and feed each other in a recursive manner over time. Based on these findings, we also elaborate on how ST may be usefully applied to understand continuity and transformation of strategizing practices more generally. An overall conclusion is that ST not only provides a strong and consistent ontological framework for theorizing about these practices, but also offers a rich conceptual toolbox which can be usefully applied to better understand how and why structural continuity and change may coexist and intermingle in the durée of daily organizational life.

Abstract:The paradox of strategic management accounting

The evidence that strategic management accounting (SMA) techniques have not been adopted widely and that developments in the SMA literature seem to have languished may be consistent with the relatively short lifecycle of most strategic management (SM) tools and many concepts. Nevertheless, there is an inherent contradiction between the apparent decline of SMA and the sustained growth in the number of concepts, models, tools, theoretical perspectives, disciplines, academic and professional journals and consultancy practices that populate the SM domain.

This paradox of SMA is explored in the context of the evolution of the SM literature, SMA practice, as exemplified by two recent case studies, and the cognate literatures of management control, performance measurement and knowledge management. It transpires that the SMA literature is based in large part on a narrow, first-era, view of the SM literature that reached maturity with Michael Porter's industry analysis model and generic competitive strategies.

The second era of SM that began in 1977 with a move to a more internal, resource-based view of the firm and competitive advantage has been mostly neglected by the extant SMA literature. However, to judge from the small number of published case studies, SMA practices are developing in line with their strategy formulation and organisational processes. The links among the bundle of techniques that are usually included in SMA and between SMA and cognate literatures need to be integrated into a coherent, cohesive framework to complement SM.

2011

Abstract:25 years of Giddens in accounting research: achievements, limitations and the future.

Twenty five years ago, Giddens’ structuration theory (ST) was introduced into accounting research as a reaction to the history-less, apolitical and technical-efficiency focus of traditional functionalist research. A quarter of a century later, this growing stream of research consists of some 65 published papers and has become one of the dominant alternative approaches used to explore accounting as an organizational and social practice. We review this literature based on the following two research questions; (i) what are the major achievements of this literature, and in what respects has it contributed to our understanding of accounting in relation to other alternative streams of accounting research, such as those grounded in critical theory, actor-network theory (ANT), new-institutional sociology (NIS) and practice theory? and; (ii) what are the limitations of the ST strand and, considering these (and its relative strengths), how should it be advanced in the future? Overall, we find that the mobilization of ST as a general ontological framework has generated three major and largely unique contributions, namely; (i) the introduction of a duality perspective; (ii) the conceptualization of accounting as an interwoven totality comprised of structures of signification, domination and legitimation, and; (iii) an ontological basis for theorizing how, when and why socially embedded agents may produce both continuity and change in accounting practices. However, we also conclude that it is difficult to identify a particular and distinctive empirical imprint of the ST literature, and that some of the theory’s ‘competitive advantages’ are far from fully exploited. Based on these identified strengths and weaknesses of the ST perspective, we consider an array of directions for future scholarly effort.

Abstract:The routinisation of management controls in software.

Our paper aims to explore management control as complex and intertwining process over time, rather than the (mainstream) fixation on rational, optimising tools for ensuring business success. We set out to contribute towards our understanding of why and how particular management controls evolve over time as they do. We discuss how the management control routines of one organisation emerged and reproduced (through software), and moved towards a situation of becoming accepted and generally unquestioned across much of the industry. The creativity and championing of one particular person was found to be especially important in this unfolding change process. Our case study illuminates how management control (software) routines can be an important carrier of organisational knowledge, both as an engine for continuity but also potentially as a catalyst for change. We capture this process by means of exploring the ‘life-story’ of a piece of software that is adopted in the corrugated container industry.

Abstract:Professional Accounting Media - Accountants Handing over Control to the System

Purpose – the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between management accountingsoftware and the management accountant, as (re)produced in adverts appearing in professionalmanagement accounting journals. The paper analyses how such adverts have shaped the managementaccountant and the social practice of management accounting; in particular, whether these adverts areproducing an image of management accountants who are in control of their management accountingsystem or who are controlled by it. The paper also discusses whether these adverts reflect changes inbroader social practices.Design/methodology/approach – the paper analyses two software adverts that were published inChartered Institute of Management Accountants’ professional journal. It uses discourse analysis tounderstand both the image of management accountants and the nature of the management accountingsoftware portrayed in these adverts, as well as to explore the relationship between managementaccountants and their control systems.Findings – it is concluded that the software adverts project an image of managementaccountants who are effectively handing over control to their systems, and who are encouraged toplace substantial trust in the software. The paper relates these changes to trends in contemporarysocial practices, and reflects in the light of recent events in the financial markets and global economymore generally.Originality/value – This paper contributes by adding more insight to the diffusion of the images ofthe accountant as a more action oriented and hedonistic person (while the software system “does thework”), as well as considering the broader implications of such diffusion in the context of the recentfinancial crisis.

Abstract:The image of accountants: from bean counters to extreme accountants

Purpose – the aim of this paper is to investigate the extent to which a profound change in the imageof accountants can be seen in the discourse used in accounting software adverts that have appeared inthe professional publications of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants over the last fourdecades.Design/methodology/approach – Methodologically, the paper draws from Barthes’ work on therhetoric of images and Giddens’ work on modernity. By looking at accounting software adverts, anattempt is made to investigate the image of the accountant produced by the discourse of the adverts,and whether the image produced reflects a wide social change in society.Findings – it was found that in the 1970s and the 1980s the accountant was constructed as aresponsible and rational person. In the 1990s, the accountant was presented as an instructed actionman. However, in a recent advert the accountant appeared as a more hedonistic person. Overall, thechanges observed reflect changes in wider social practice from modernity, through high modernity, tohyper-modernity.Research limitations/implications – the image of the accountants has implications for thedevelopment of the accounting profession. In particular, the move towards hyper-modernity, whereempathy towards others and the virtues of self-discipline and fairness are not at stake, hasimplications for the trustworthiness of the accounting profession.Originality/value – Although there has been some research into the image of accountants,particularly in the media and popular movies, extant works have mostly investigated how othersperceive accountants and how accountants are generally portrayed. The paper however, places morestress on the construction of the image of the accountants when appealing to the accountants.

Abstract:The changing roles of management accountants

2006

Abstract:How do embedded agents engage in institutional change?

The article looks at the fact that institutional theories offer more insight into the processes that account for institutional stability than those that would explain institutional change. The authors then focus on institutional change within organizations. They seek to conceptualize and collect empirical evidence for when, why and how people within organizations influence change while they are part of the institutional fabric of their organizations. When formulating theories of institutional change, the relevant dimensions of change, and the time frame of the study must be specified. Also, processes that account for causal relationships among variables, as well as the way in which ideas constraint or facilitate institutional change must be specified.

2005

Abstract:An institutional perspective of accountants: new roles - the interplay of contradictions and praxis

Recent years have witnessed a flurry of commentaries, mainly in the professional accounting literature, on new business-oriented roles for management accountants. Often premised on the generalisation of survey data, such work undoubtedly provides useful publicity to the underlying trends. However, to date, empirical research into the dynamics of role(s) change in actual organisations is scarce. This paper describes the emergence of new team/process-oriented roles for so-called 'hybrid' accountants in the manufacturing division of a multinational pharmaceuticals organisation. Adopting institutional theory, the following provides insight into role(s) change, as processes that encompass both institutional embeddedness and transformational agency. We highlight institutional contradictions that create potential openings for change, and discuss the praxis that underpin when, how and why role(s) change is carved out.

This paper examines a failed change initiative (the implementation of economic value added, EVATM) in an in-depth case study of a major UK retailer (RetailCo, a pseudonym). The paper locates this change initiative within inter-professional competition between on the one hand the finance managers and on the other hand the buyers and merchandisers in RetailCo. Finance managers sought to strengthen their professional jurisdiction and enhance their financial and symbolic rewards by imposing stricter controls over buyers and merchandisers, which the latter resented as an undesirable intervention into their work practices and mobilized their influence and work knowledge to ensure the abandonment of EVA. This boundary work involved the use of a multiplicity of entry points centred on control strategies and the fundamentals of retailing. Implications for professional competition and organizational change are considered.

Starting from the position that management accounting systems and practices constitute organizational rules and routines, this paper describes an institutional framework for the conceptualization of management accounting change. Drawing from (old) institutional economics, the framework explores the complex and ongoing relationship between actions and institutions, and demonstrates the importance of organizational routines and institutions in shaping the processes of management accounting change. The inherent stability and continuity of organizational life is discussed, and three categorizations of institutional change are explored. The framework is offered as a starting point for researchers interested in studying management accounting change, and through such studies the framework will be extended and refined.

Abstract:The Dynamics of Accounting Change: Inter-play of New Practices, Routines, Institutions, Power and Politics

This paper explores accounting change in the product development department of a small UK chemicals manufacturer. An institutional framework of accounting and a framework of power mobilisation help tease out the dynamics of the processes of change. The case highlights power over resources, decision making and meanings as being key facilitators to the implementation of accounting change. It also demonstrates barriers to change and conflict which emerge as new accounting routines fail to impinge on existing laboratory ways of thinking. Focusing on the processes of accounting change within a specific organisational setting illuminates aspects of the change process which more conventional “static” approaches would likely ignore.